Colorado highway reopened after avalanche danger strands thousands

Trucks line the streets of Frisco, Colo., as they wait for Interstate 70 to reopen Monday morning as a winter storm hit the High Country, stranding travelers throughout Summit County. Whiteout conditions on icy, snow packed roads slowed heavy traffic to a crawl on Interstate 70 near the Eisenhower Tunnel, before officials closed the highway in both directions Sunday from Vail to Georgetown. (AP Photo/Summit Daily News, Mark Fox)

By GEORGE MERRITT
The Associated Press

1/2/2008

Portions of a 60-mile stretch of Interstate 70 — the main route between Denver and some of the state’s biggest ski resorts — were shut down in both directions from around 5 p.m. Sunday until about 4 p.m. Monday.

The long delay had some travelers contemplating the prospect of welcoming the new year on a cot in a shelter. More than 2,000 spent Sunday night in shelters, but the Red Cross closed all its shelters Monday after traffic started moving.

Liquor stores did a brisk business after the highway shut down.

“We’ve definitely seen a rush,” said John Will of Antler’s Discount Liquor in Frisco. “People are coming in complaining that they are stuck” or caught in slow-moving traffic.

High winds piled deep snow into more than two dozen narrow ravines in the mountainsides — known as avalanche chutes — raising the danger of deadly avalanches cascading onto I-70. Blowing snow reduced visibility to nearly zero.

Authorities cleared out that snow before letting traffic through again.

Wind gusts at the Eisenhower Tunnel, where the interstate passes under the Continental Divide at 11,000 feet above sea level, reached 70 mph.

The section of the highway that was closed carries as many as 39,000 cars on Sundays during this time of year, officials said.

I-70 is the main route between Denver and many of the state’s major ski resorts. The closing of the road could hurt ski business during the lucrative holiday season.

In Utah, an avalanche at a trailhead Monday swept away a man whose snowmobile had broken down, authorities said.

“Two people went to help, and my understanding is the slide triggered 400 yards above them,” said Lt. Jeff Winterton of Wasatch County Search and Rescue. “The other two were able to swim out of it.”

Rescuers performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the man before he was airlifted to a hospital in Provo, Winterton said. His identity and his condition were not immediately released.

Authorities had warned of the danger of avalanches in Utah’s backcountry, where thousands of people were expected to ski, hike and snowmobile on New Year’s Day. Avalanches there have already claimed two lives this season.